I've a question about roleplaying the dark powers.
How do you decide when to call for a powers check? One of my players is explaining that they were surprised by some of the things these mysterious powers decided were evil and deserved rewards/punishments. Her explanation was that her motivations were in one situation to
1) spit on a grave to see what happens
and in another situation
2) Spit on a holy symbol with her newly acquired acidic breath (failed powers check) to protect herself from a paladin who was in search of this holy symbol.
Do you ask your players what theire motivation is, rationalizing that the dark powers are somehow able to read a characters minds/motives for doing what they are doing, or do you simply judge what you think would be considered an evil act?
). As for your question, i think you should be the judge if something is outrageous, but in order to understand your players', not characters' motivation you should discuss with them off-game. I hope this helps, but remember...:Beware of Dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with mustard.
Originally posted by DMinTraining
Hi,
I've a question about roleplaying the dark powers.
How do you decide when to call for a powers check? One of my players is explaining that they were surprised by some of the things these mysterious powers decided were evil and deserved rewards/punishments. Her explanation was that her motivations were in one situation to
1) spit on a grave to see what happens
and in another situation
2) Spit on a holy symbol with her newly acquired acidic breath (failed powers check) to protect herself from a paladin who was in search of this holy symbol.
Well, I usually refer to the chapter on powers checks and see if the act either is or has traits in common with one of the entries there. As for your situations:
1) Why on earth would the character be wondering about what happened? Was there any reasoning for this at all? Normally, if you spit on a grave, you don't expect anything, do you?
2) Okay, this one is a bit more logical, as it would serve as something of an attack against the paladin's faith, hence maybe weakening his resolve or something. Better (although certainly evil. What was a paladin doing on their trail anyway?).
Do you ask your players what theire motivation is, rationalizing that the dark powers are somehow able to read a characters minds/motives for doing what they are doing, or do you simply judge what you think would be considered an evil act?
I think that it actually says that the motivation doesn't matter, such as with an overzealous hag-hunter who burns innocents. As such, I simply judge the act itself, not the reasons the character (and much less the player) had for doing it.
This has certain exceptions, however, such as acts commited with the intent being good, and the execution also being good in the eyes of the... er... receiver. Confused? I'm terrible at getting my point across, I know. Look at page 55 in van Richten's guide to the Walking Dead, under Culture and Cannibalism, to understand my reasoning. Of course, such things very rarely happens, so most of the time I simply look at the act itself.
And yes, the Powers are very much able to know what the character thinks.
The second time the party had decided to help an old paladin who had lost his faith attempt to reclaim his faith by finding his holy symbol. Was meant to make the paladin into a useful source of information or even inspiration for the mostly good party.
naturally, our LE character felt threatened by the thought of a powerful padalin living next door.
See, I thought you meant how would you roleplay an encounter with the DP, something that should never happen in a regular campaign, but if it did, here's how I would do it. I'd use the same mechanic as the First from Buffy, the DP shifting into the form of different dead people.
Hell, there's an entire campaign there, a rogue DP, like the Red Death but trapped in Ravenloft, knows how to escape, but it's powers are crippled. Through various minions it creates a plan to escape, but the thing is incorporeal (not ethereal, NOTHING can damage it) and can only take the form of the dead. As it can harm nothing nor be harmed, it can appear to any level of party, but it's minion can be tailored to suit.
Hell, three NPC's stick out as the RDP minions: Toben the Many, Francios D'Penible and Duke Gundar.
That is the nature of the dark powers.
An evil campaign in Ravenloft is bound to have powers checks. The player should be well aware of it.
Spitting on a grave...I think its a little harsh to call that desecrating a grave...I mean its just spit. The chance the dark powers would pay attention to that is pretty slim.
Destroying a Paladin's (who is innocent...) holy symbol is definately very very bad.
And thats my .o2.
Originally posted by Troile
Spitting on a grave...I think its a little harsh to call that desecrating a grave...I mean its just spit.
Try it at a military cemetary and see what happens...
Seriously, though, I'd say intent is an issue here. After all, in Arrakis spitting was very much a sign of reverence and a bond between friends.
I don't think spitting on a grave is the same as outright defiling it.
I've seen people do so much worse than spit on military graves. All the WWII graves around my town have swastikas spray painted all over them. Its just stupid kids trying to get attention, not a big deal.
Its about whether it draws the attention of the dark powers. The dark powers don't care how bad someone is...its just that you need to be bad to draw their attention.
I'm sure that if everyone failed powers checks with every bit of malice or evil intent there would be no normal people left in Ravenloft.
The players can get out of line and thats what fear/horror/madness and powers checks are for...but the DM can be too eager to have them in his game.
If the players are evil then they're going to go down that road eventually.
Its more climatic to have failed power checks be memorable occaisions that the player can look back on and question his actions.
I am only faintly familiar, however, with Toben the Many and have never even heard of Francios D'Penible.
Could anyone explain the last two to me?
Originally posted by Zar Niln
I am familiar with Duke Gundar.
I am only faintly familiar, however, with Toben the Many and have never even heard of Francios D'Penible.
Could anyone explain the last two to me?
Francois D'Penible is Stu Turner's entry in COTN: Demons, see www.kargatane.com. Toben the many is a weird ghost/Animator thing that can only posess dead bodies. See Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead.